CVB working to bring HistoryMobile to area

July 8, 2013

MARTINSBURG - Laura Gassler, executive director of the Martinsburg-Berkeley County Convention and Visitors Bureau, is working to bring the Virginia HistoryMobile to Martinsburg next year.

"It's a 53-foot semi with exhibits and it travels all around," she said. "It's sponsored by the Virginia Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission. I phoned to see if we could get it and they said, 'Yes, by all means.'"

Applications to host the museum-on-wheels must be submitted to the commission. The selection process is competitive.

Article Photos

Submitted photoThe HistoryMobile, sponsored by the Virginia Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission, might be coming to Martinsburg next year. The Martinsburg-Berkeley County CVB is applying to host it.

The HistoryMobile is a walk-through, interactive, mobile museum that allows visitors to imagine events related to the Civil War from many points of view, according to its website.

On the exterior walls of the trailer are displayed large photos of historical places and people, such as the slave pen in Alexandria, Va., and downtown Richmond in 1860.

Inside the traveling museum are several exhibits with themes like the battlefront, the homefront, losers and gainers, and the principal battles in Virginia.

Gassler tried to get the HistoryMobile for this year's 150th anniversary of West Virginia becoming a state June 20, but it was too late to reserve the date, she said.

"But next year is a big deal for this area - there was a lot of Civil War activity here, so the timing is perfect," Gassler said.

Between July 3 and Sept. 18, 1864, Martinsburg and the surrounding area changed hands 11 times from Union to Confederate and back again, including three times in one day.

July 25, 2014, would be the 150th anniversary of the Second Battle of Martinsburg, which was fought during Confederate Gen. Jubal Early's 1864 Shenandoah Valley Campaign.

That could be a possible date for the HistoryMobile's visit to Martinsburg, Gassler said. Another possibility would be Martinsburg Heritage Day, which is May 10 next year, she said.

Heritage Day would be good because school would still be in session and accessibility to students is an important part of the application process, Gassler said. If it were located in downtown Martinsburg, students could walk to it from several schools, she said.

The HistoryMobile would probably spend three days in Martinsburg, she said. It could be located on the square in downtown Martinsburg, at the Caperton Train Station, the B&O Roundhouse or the Adam Stephen House, she said.

Gassler has gotten endorsements from the City of Martinsburg, Adam Stephen Foundation, Main Street Martinsburg, Falling Waters Battlefield Association and Berkeley County Historical Society, she said.

Perhaps the best part is it's free.

"All we have to do is house the four staff members, who travel with the HistoryMobile and act as guides," Gassler said.

The application is due by September. She hopes to hear by October whether Martinsburg has been selected for next year's HistoryMobile itinerary.